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Who
owns Australia's grain?
This year the consolidation
of Australia’s food industry has reached a new (and somewhat
alarming) high. The ACCC has just approved the $3 billion
takeover
of Australia's GrainCorp by US giant
ADM. The Nationals have criticised
the move. It will mean one foreign company will own seven
out of the eight port facilites on the east coast. >
More at ABC
PM and Background
Briefing (from 16th June).
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This puts the majority
of our grain distribution facilities into the hands
of large multinational companies. ABB Grain,
AWB and now Graincorp
have all become foreign-owned in the last 4 years. CBH
Group is the only major player (operating in
WA) that still Australian owned.
> See a more detailed snapshot here
and related ABC
article (from May).
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Organic
lawn care
Agriculture has traditionally
been tied to pesticide-related illnesses, however 19 of
30 most commonly used lawn pesticides
have been linked
to cancer (US data). Other chemicals, such as Chlorpyrifos,
an organophosphate, are suspected to be an endocrine toxin,
a nerve toxin and a reproductive toxin in humans, especially
children. See other
common toxic pesticides sold for home gardens in Australia
and worth avoiding.
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Quick
bites ...
- Coles supermarket
group is being investigated by the ACCC for
alleged misleading conduct over its "Baked Today, Sold
Today" bread, which is actually partially baked and
frozen off site (12/6/13) News.com.au
- Kmart, Target and
Cotton On have now signed up to the Bangladesh
Accord on Fire and Building Safety. Best and
Less, Rivers, Just Group and Big W are yet
to sign. (Though Big W do intend
to. Encouage them by joining the petition at Oxfam
and Change.org).
More at ABC 4
Corners 'Fashion Victims' (24/6/13)
- Our website has a
new 'Values
Screen' feature which allows you to see companies
with assessments in the issue areas you care about.
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